Socialist mayors built modern infrastructure in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
Socialist mayors led Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for nearly 40 years starting in 1910, overseeing the development of essential public infrastructure.
Historian John Gurda explains that the city elected Socialist leaders because the residents wanted to combat corruption and improve the lives of a large working-class population. At the time, 57% of males in Milwaukee worked in manufacturing.
The city also had a large community of German immigrants who were raised with Socialist ideals and gathered at Turner Hall to debate and discuss social issues. Mayor Daniel Hoan served 24 years in office and oversaw the construction of the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility in 1925. Before this, the city sent sewage directly into rivers that flowed into Lake Michigan, where residents then collected their drinking water.
The Socialist government used a public tax base to fund the treatment plant because the initial capital investment was too large for private industry. The administration focused on practical improvements like parks, public housing, and sewers, a style often called Sewer Socialism. Mayor Hoan also helped develop Milorganite, a fertilizer made from microscopic organisms in wastewater. The city still sells this product today to homeowners and golf course superintendents.
By 1960, the last Socialist mayor, Frank Zeidler, left office after many of these progressive policies were adopted by the Democratic Party.
